On Sunday a man in my congregation, Jeff Walther, delivered a sermon about making a difference in someone’s life.

As a part of that, he told a story about a man walking along a beach. He saw someone moving in the distance, almost like they were dancing.

As he got closer he realized that it was a young man. But he wasn’t dancing. He was scurrying around, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

The onlooker called out, “Good morning! May I ask what you’re doing?” The young man replied, “I’m throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“Why?”

“The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

The man looked around and said, “But don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

Hearing this, the young man bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water he replied, “It made a difference to that one.”

In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes, “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

That’s true whether your good works impact the lives of a thousand people, a hundred people…

Or just one.

In The Power of If, Mark Batterson writes, “If you do little things like they are big things, then God will do big things like they are little things!”

You were made to make a difference. No matter how many lives you touch. So share an act of love. And trust God to take it from there.

By Matthew Ruttan